My name is Gillian Chong. I am a Practice Director and Certified Financial Planner with UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd “UOBKHWA“.
I am registered with the Federation of Investment Managers Malaysia (FiMM) as a Unit Trust Consultant.
This license allows me to give advice and to market unit trust funds and PRS Scheme from multiple fund managers and PRS providers.
I am also an approved Financial Adviser Representative of Bank Negara Malaysia to carry out Financial Advisory Business related to Insurance and Takaful. To better assist my clients, I am also a Certified Financial Coach
I graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Economics & Management from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom and a Master of Science in Business Analysis & Design from City University Business School, London United Kingdom.
I was formerly a banker with an international banking career spanning 23 years. I worked in London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
I held several senior positions when I was in the bank, specifically in financial risk management where I provided financial solutions to corporate clients on the management of their risks in foreign exchange, interest rates and commodity price risks.
I became a full-time Financial Planner in October 2013 and I manage an Advisory and Practice Management office and a team of 5 Advisors.
My Company:
UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd (UOBKHWA) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UOB Kay Hian Securities (M) Sdn Bhd, and member of the UOB Kay Hian Holding Limited Group (UOBKH).
The Group is Asia’s leading independent regional equity house, providing investment services to institutional and private clients globally for over 100 years.
Headquartered in Singapore and strategically positioned in 7 key Asian markets, UOBKH is listed on the Singapore Exchange. It is independently managed and about 40%-owned by the United Overseas Bank Group (UOB) (Rated by Moody’s Aa1 / S&P AA-).
UOB is one of the leading financial institutions in Asia and is listed on the Singapore Exchange, with a market cap of around S$47 billion.
How did you get involved in the industry and in Malaysia?
After 23 years of working in the corporate world I decided to leave my 9 to 5 job to spend more time with my family and children.
This turned out to be a blessing as I able to join my husband in the financial advisory business 3 years later when he went into the business.
What made you decide to do this business?
Offering Unit Trusts for people looking to start their own investment portfolio is part and parcel of being a Financial Adviser. Our mission is to help our clients plan for their long-term goals such as for retirement.
Proper understanding of the underlying investment is key to having and growing an investment portfolio. I believe every adult should know what to look out for and how to make their hard earned funds work harder for them.
These days this knowledge is absolutely necessary to ensure that the value of our savings stay ahead of inflation. The only way to do this is to invest those funds properly.
What differentiates you from the competition?
Being an independent financial adviser, means we are not tied to any fund management companies, hence our clients can be assured of unbiased investment advice.
Having had a long successful career in the financial industry I have deep knowledge of the financial markets especially having worked in London, Hong Kong and Singapore before coming back to Malaysia.
During my 20+ years as a banker I have also experienced several global financial crises from the Asian Financial Crisis (1996 to 1998), early 2000’s Dot.Com bubble crash, the Global Financial Crisis also called the Subprime Mortgage Crisis (2008-2009) and even a run on the banks in Hong Kong in 1991 so I have the experience behind me to advice my clients during any down turn in the markets.
What is the Value you and your business provide?
With so many get rich scams out there these days it is important that people can still rely on genuine types of investments and properly certified financial advisers they can trust. As the saying goes, “if it is too good to be true, you are probably right”.
No investment is risk free as they are subjected to market movements and geopolitical issues and economic trends. At UOBKHWA we keep our clients informed and regular reviews are done and where necessary, the portfolio is rebalanced.
What is your insight for the industry or marketplace?
With the proliferation of companies and financial institutions offering more and more complex products, investors are often blinded by the high returns being dangled in front of them.
Sometimes with hardly any knowledge of the risk they are taking on, people invest their entire life savings into schemes which they hope will make them rich.
Sadly, most of these so-called high yield investments do not provide the return the investors have been promised. Some are just scams to induce people to part with their hard earned savings.
What are the challenges and where are the opportunities for Malaysian businesses in relation to your industry?
Unfortunately, there are far too many people out there who call themselves Financial Advisers without the proper credentials. Their interest is mainly to close deals with the clients so that they meet their sales targets.
The Central Bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, is doing its best to address this by imposing policies and certification requirements before anyone can sell investment products, but owing to the ever increasing targets, many agents of investments funds make promises to clients which are false, so that the clients will buy from them.
This situation has given our industry a bad name. It is hoped that investors will do their own research by checking with official financial institutions websites and Bank Negara Malaysia site before making that commitment to part with their savings!
What type of Clients or contacts would you like to be connected to or be in touch with?
I would like to be connected with people who are in the medical profession and professions such as accountants, bankers and business owners.
As my other interest is financial education, I am also interested to be introduced to young couples or people starting out in their career.
If clients can start their investment journey early, they will most likely benefit from the time given as investments take time to grow.
Remember you don’t need a million to speak to Gillian!!